Andy Shaw: Governments must do more to listen to citizens

Saturday

Jul 15, 2017 at 8:00 PM

This column is about Chicago and Cook County, where I live and do most of my watchdog work. But the issue of citizen access to local government — the opportunity to weigh in on pending legislation that affects you and your family or business — is just as relevant in Springfield, Sangamon County and the rest of central Illinois. So stay with me:

Two historically inhospitable bastions of insularity — the Cook County Board and the Chicago City Council — are slowly and grudgingly tearing down walls and inviting the public into their legislative deliberations. In other words, they're taking steps to listen to real people. Wow!

The County Board is moving proactively, the City Council reactively, but the result in both legislative bodies will be more public accessibility, and that’s an important reform step.

At the county, a suburban commissioner is proposing an online “witness slipping” initiative that will let residents and advocacy groups weigh in on pending legislation and even testify online. County officials are exploring the technology required to implement a system like the one the Illinois legislature uses.

It’s strongly supported by the Better Government Association’s policy team, which is working with the county on the details.

Ten states have forms of remote testimony for constituents who can’t show up in person, and it’s been a valuable tool for people to make their voices heard, even when their opinions have limited impact on big, complicated issues like a state budget crisis.

“It’s vitally important that local governments in Illinois embrace technology as democracy moves into an increasingly digital era,” says Josh Sharp of the Illinois Press Association. “Taxpayers who previously wrote letters or placed phone calls to their elected officials to voice their opinion about a particular measure will now have the ability to weigh in online. It’s a practice that works relatively well at the Capitol and we welcome its swift approval in Cook County.”

Why it matters: Last year two-thirds of the Cook County Board’s committee meetings heard testimony from only one person, or no one, and those committees deal with major housing, criminal justice, law enforcement and fiscal issues. That’s a troubling but understandable example of civic disengagement.

Restricting public input to in-person testimony limits access to those with enough time, mobility and flexibility to attend meetings — an obvious impediment to representative government.

On-line slipping can give them a more accessible channel if they want one.

In Chicago, where aldermen have never graciously embraced public involvement in their deliberations, witness slipping and other citizen participation initiatives are a ways off. For now the only momentum comes grudgingly in response to a lawsuit and subsequent court ruling mandating inclusion of public comments at regular meetings.

The initial proposal allocates 30 minutes at the beginning of every meeting, but critics call the time limit insufficient, noting that aldermen frequently spend an hour or more on eulogies for retirees and decedents, and non-substantive ceremonial tributes. So the lawsuit will continue until that and several other issues are resolved.

Time will tell if Chicago’s public comment protocol and Cook County’s online slipping actually empower the voiceless, influence key decisions and lead to greater transparency. But both measures will give local citizens more access to their legislators, and that’s progress.

Steps like these are also important if public officials really want to change the image of a city government known for its corrupt “Chicago Way” and a county many still refer to pejoratively as “Crook” instead of Cook.

Your cities and counties in Central Illinois may not be as infamous, but you’re just as entitled to share your thoughts with your local leaders.

— Andy Shaw is president and CEO of the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based watchdog organization. Contact him at ashaw@bettergov.org or follow him on Twitter at @andyshawbga

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